An investigation of human clonorchiasis prevalence in an endemic county in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, China, 2016

Abstract

To effectively promote the implementation of interventions, the identification of high-risk groups and the characteristics of Clonorchis sinensis infection in endemic regions are needed. In a clonorchiasis-endemic area, local residents were randomly enrolled for helminth egg examination in June 2016. The prevalence in subpopulations as well as the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours and the factors influencing clonorchiasis in egg-positive populations were analysed. A total of 2282 local residents participated in the survey; the C. sinensis prevalence was 48.6% (1109 persons). A higher prevalence was found in males (62.6%) than in females (29.7%). People older than 30 years had the highest prevalence (52.7%–57.6%). Among the 888 persons who were infected with C. sinensis and participated the questionnaire investigation, 19.0% (169/888) knew that it could cause cancer. In addition, 60.6% of people reported that they intended to keep eating raw fish despite knowing the risk of infection. The two primary reasons for continuing to eat raw fish were the disease being regarded as not serious (38.3%) and the belief that anti-parasite medications are effective (39.6%). A total of 94.4% (797/844) of responders reported eating raw fish more frequently in the home than outside of the home. Our study revealed a notably high C. sinensis prevalence in the study area. Awareness of clonorchiasis disease severity should be increased among high-risk individuals and families in highly endemic areas.